Another day, another post. The result of free internet, and lots of excitement.
Today involved baboons, seals, penguins, dassies, sore bottoms, a Nissan Tiida and two horses.
Let's start with the horses. Fuelled by an excellent dinner of crocodile carpaccio and ostrich steaks last night we got up at 6am and hit the road in our new wheels. I had heard about a beach ride just south of Cape Town that I just had to do - white sand and a spectacular backdrop. Mike has never ridden before but he was up for it so we booked a two hour ride first thing this morning. Thanks to the awful weather of the previous few days we were the only people to have booked and we had a private ride on 'Roxxy' and 'Fritz' on an almost deserted beach. The sun shone, the sand twinkled and we were allowed to let rip. Our guide from Imhoff Farm was excellent - she gave Mike so much confidence and by the end of the first hour we were allowed to go off for a canter (I was allowed to go on ahead and the canter turned into a gallop - all I could do was shout 'whoop whoop', with my heart in my mouth, as the beach disappeared under Roxxy's hooves). Mike loved it and we're looking into a 2-day trek in Lesotho the week after next.
Next we headed to Cape Point and went for a lovely walk through the national park where we bumped into snakes, dassies (strange giant-rat creatures with no tails who are related to elephants) and lizards along the trail. We trekked down to a deserted beach. 250 steep steps down and then a scramble down a near-vertical sand dune to get onto a beautiful powder-soft beach. Just as we got to the foot of the cliffs a seal plopped up the beach and settled in for a sunbathe - we were able to get within just a few feet of him and we sat and watched for a while. Next stop - via a slight delay on the road as a family of baboons cavorted by - was the penguins at Boulders Beach. What a lovely day.
Today involved baboons, seals, penguins, dassies, sore bottoms, a Nissan Tiida and two horses.
Let's start with the horses. Fuelled by an excellent dinner of crocodile carpaccio and ostrich steaks last night we got up at 6am and hit the road in our new wheels. I had heard about a beach ride just south of Cape Town that I just had to do - white sand and a spectacular backdrop. Mike has never ridden before but he was up for it so we booked a two hour ride first thing this morning. Thanks to the awful weather of the previous few days we were the only people to have booked and we had a private ride on 'Roxxy' and 'Fritz' on an almost deserted beach. The sun shone, the sand twinkled and we were allowed to let rip. Our guide from Imhoff Farm was excellent - she gave Mike so much confidence and by the end of the first hour we were allowed to go off for a canter (I was allowed to go on ahead and the canter turned into a gallop - all I could do was shout 'whoop whoop', with my heart in my mouth, as the beach disappeared under Roxxy's hooves). Mike loved it and we're looking into a 2-day trek in Lesotho the week after next.
Next we headed to Cape Point and went for a lovely walk through the national park where we bumped into snakes, dassies (strange giant-rat creatures with no tails who are related to elephants) and lizards along the trail. We trekked down to a deserted beach. 250 steep steps down and then a scramble down a near-vertical sand dune to get onto a beautiful powder-soft beach. Just as we got to the foot of the cliffs a seal plopped up the beach and settled in for a sunbathe - we were able to get within just a few feet of him and we sat and watched for a while. Next stop - via a slight delay on the road as a family of baboons cavorted by - was the penguins at Boulders Beach. What a lovely day.
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